1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle lamp that has an LED (Light Emitting Diode) light source.
2. Prior Art
Recently, vehicle lamps with an LED light source have been frequently employed. In the vehicle lamp disclosed in Japanese Utility-Model Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 61-153201, a translucent member is placed in the vicinity of the front of an LED light source disposed so as to face in the forward direction of the lamp, and light from the LED light source is internally reflected plurality of times by this translucent member and emitted toward the front of the lamp.
With an adoption of such a lamp structure, it is possible to allow the light from the LED light source to appear to be lit over a large light emitting area.
However, in the above-described vehicular lamp, the light from the LED light source reaches the translucent member as scattered light, and the angles of the incident light on the final reflecting surface of the translucent member vary at the respective sites on the final reflecting surface. This causes a problem. When the translucent member is observed from the front of the lamp when the LED light source is lit, the appearance of a uniform shining of the translucent member is not easily provided.
In order to achieve this uniform shining, the positional relationship between the LED light source and the final reflecting surface of the translucent member needs to be precisely defined. This causes another problem. The configuration of the translucent member is extremely limited.